Are You Ever Coming Around?
by RoastedPorkchop
Summary: Letters to Juliet AU. Lucy is in Magnolia for a pre-honeymoon with her fiancee, Natsu, when she comes across an unanswered letter dated fifty years ago. Inspired to put her writing skills to the test, she ends up meeting Mavis, the letter writer, and helping Mavis find her Zeref, all while trying not to fall for Mavis' grandson, Laxus.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Henlo, first Fairy Tail fanfic of mine, but I really couldn't just keep this idea locked up in my head because IT JUST FITS I SWEAR.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own Letters to Juliet, and if anyone has had the same idea already, I apologize but I was unaware of it.**

**NOTE: This an AU, so it won't be focused too much on Fairy Tail as a guild. Also, Wendy will be closer to Lucy's age. For this story, all the characters will be about 23-24, while Wendy will be around 21 or 22.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia had already been in contact with fifteen Macao Conbolts but she wasn't going to be disappointed with herself. There were still two Macao Conbolts on her list, and she was going to get the right one. She just knew it.

_Don't give up, Lucy!_ she told herself as she dialled the number of another Macao Conbolt.

"Yes?" a deep voice answered.

"Hi. I'm Lucy Heartfilia from Sorcerer Magazine," she replied.

"A journalist? Never had one calling for me before," Macao Conbolt chuckled.

Lucy chuckled as well. "I'm more a fact checker, really. Think of it as a detective, of sorts."

"Oh, I see. What did you need from me, Miss Lucy?"

"I just wanted to ask where you were after the battle with Oracion Seis."

"I was at… hmm, I think I was near the bakery."

Lucy's eyes brightened. She actually got the Macao Conbolt she was looking for! "And you saw the kiss?"

"Between Bisca and Alzack? Sure did!"

Bisca was probably the name of the beautiful green haired woman kissing the black haired man in the picture given to Lucy by her boss. It was almost February, and he thought it would be nice to do some fact checking on something romantic. He had handed her the picture and asked her to find out some more details about it, and of course she had been hyped to get it done.

"That's amazing! About the kiss… was it planned or was it spontaneous?"

"Pretty sure it was spontaneous. Alzack was pretty relieved that we'd beaten Oracion Seis, and he kissed Bisca 'cause he really liked her. She kissed him back 'cause I'm pretty sure she liked him, too. But then, I guess it was worth it since they're married now."

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this information!" Lucy was practically jumping in excitement at the details she had managed to get.

"No problem, Miss Lucy."

After the call ended, she excitedly wrote down her notes and typed up a report for her boss.

* * *

"It was spontaneous, but that kiss ended up forming a deeper connection between them that eventually led to them getting married. It's true love," Lucy sighed happily as she finished explaining her report to her boss. Jason, her boss, wasn't normally one for romantic things, but he enjoyed having her as a fact checker.

"COOOOOLLLL!" he exclaimed, happily placing her report on the pile of papers on his desk.  
"This will make an excellent story for next month's edition, Lucy! And hey, at least you can go on that honeymoon of yours. Magnolia, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, we—"

"Well, enjoy your honeymoon!" Jason cheered.

Lucy hesitated before asking, "I was also wondering if it would be nice for me to do some writing over there? I—"

"Why'd you want to be a writer, Lucy? You're an amazing fact checker already!" Jason wondered out loud before shrugging. "But anyways. Off to Magnolia, aye? COOOLL!"

She took that as a dismissal so she sighed and stepped out of his office, where Levy, her best friend and fellow co-worker, hurriedly went over to her to walk her out of the building.

"So, Lu-chan, a pre-honeymoon, huh? Who even does that before they're married? Mou, I'm a little jealous," Levy admitted with an exaggerated sigh. "Gajeel wouldn't even do that for me."

"That's because he's _Gajeel_, Levy-chan," Lucy giggled. "He's just not the type, is he?"

"No, I suppose not. He writes me songs, at least." Levy sighed again, noticing that they had reached the door of the building. "Well, I'll see you in a few weeks at your wedding then, Lu-chan?"

"Of course!"

Lucy was honestly excited to have a wedding, although most of the preparations were given to her younger sister, Michelle, and Natsu's father, Igneel. It was partially due to the pre-honeymoon they had scheduled for themselves, since Natsu was going to be opening up his spicy food restaurant in a few weeks' time.

She had been so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't realize that she had already arrived at what would be Natsu's restaurant. The construction workers were still finishing some parts of the building, but the interior and the most important part, the kitchen, were all set.

"Luce, there you are!" her fiancee, Natsu, cheered happily, hugging her quickly before grabbing one of the fish in the grill for her to try. "Try this, Luce! I was asking Happy for some suggestions and he said this fish was the best!"

And by Happy he meant their pet cat. Happy was rather odd in that he was colored blue and that his meows sounded more like 'aye's, but Happy was adorable and she loved him.

She eagerly opened her mouth and took a bite off of the fish, eyes widening slightly with how spicy it was before the flavors started to make sense. She grinned at Natsu. "Wow! That was totally awesome, Natsu! Happy has great taste."

"I know right? And I have some other sauces to go with that somewhere here. I've just been—"

"Natsu," she tried to cut in.

"—experimenting the whole time and this lemon flavoured one actually surprisingly tasted good—"

"Natsu," she cut in again more forcefully, earning his attention.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to Magnolia in a few hours. Remember? Have you even packed?" she sighed at him while giving him an exasperated smile. He was an idiot, but he was her idiot.

"Oops," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "but it's not that hard to pack! And woohoo, we're going to Magnolia, Luce!"

In his excitement, he had picked her up in his arms and twirled her around, and for a moment, Lucy had hope that the pre-honeymoon was actually going to go well.

* * *

Or not.

They had arrived safely in Magnolia and had rented a room for a week from a tiny landlady. While Natsu was asleep, Lucy had ventured outside with a map of Magnolia, noting down spots like the East Forest and the Kardia Cathedral that she would really like to visit while they were here. She marked those spots down on a map before heading back up to their room, where she found Natsu on the phone with someone. She settled her things by the bed and waited until Natsu got off of his phone to tell him about the spots she found.

"Luce, you won't believe it!"

Lucy blinked in surprise. "What happened?"

"I was just talking to Uncle Metallicana! You know, Gajeel's dad?" Lucy nodded but she really didn't see where this was going, or how this was connected to their trip around Magnolia. "So anyways, he found me some suppliers around Magnolia who'd teach me their stuff for my restaurant. Isn't that amazing, Luce?"

"Oh," Lucy let out disappointedly, but she didn't want to show Natsu her disappointment. She had just thought that this was their honeymoon, so business matters really shouldn't be getting in the way. She just asked for one week after all. Was that too much? "I found some spots I wanted us to go to, but—"

"We can check those spots sometime later, Luce! We have a week, anyways. Besides, the places I'm taking you too have a vineyard and some good food! Come on, Luce, I promise you won't regret it!" Natsu pleaded with her with his puppy dog eyes that she could never say 'no' to.

"Oh, alright," she said as she let him drag her off to meet his suppliers.

* * *

Eventually, she just asked him if he'd like to split up. It wasn't a suggestion she wanted, but seeing as he was so preoccupied with his suppliers (he had taken her to taste wine, grapes, cheese, and the like, and while the food was definitely good, it just wasn't the honeymoon she had been looking forward to), she felt that it would be better for the both of them. And especially for her. Natsu had willingly agreed, calling it a win-win situation, but she didn't really feel like a winner. She was supposed to view Magnolia _with_ Natsu.

_That was the whole purpose of the honeymoon,_ she thought to herself as she walked around the stone paths of Magnolia. Eventually, she came upon an alley with a sign saying 'Juliet's House'. Curiously, she entered the alley and saw many girls writing things on paper and sticking it on the wall under Juliet Capulet's famous balcony. One girl had slowly walked towards her, tears trickling down her face.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked her and the girl cried again, saying, "Juvia wants to know why Gray-sama doesn't love her back! He never looks at her the way he looks at that other girl!" before leaving. Lucy felt bad for the poor girl, watching as the girl turned a corner before Lucy focused again on the wall. The wall was made up of letters written by many girls, all about love problems. It was an occurrence that rarely happened to her back in the town where the Heartfilia Konzern was located in, so she sat down by a bench and wrote about this in her journal.

By the time she stopped writing, it was already sometime in the late afternoon, and Lucy was about to leave when she noticed a blue haired woman taking down the letters and putting them in a basket before leaving the alley. Curious, Lucy followed the woman and turned to an alley by the right. The woman had entered a restaurant and met up with three other women, who joined her as they went up a flight of stairs. Lucy followed them and noticed the label 'Secretaries of Juliet' on the door before she knocked on the door to grab their attention.

The four women, who were all seated around a table, letters messily arranged in the center, all turned to look at her.

"Yes?" the blue haired woman she had seen asked her.

"Um," Lucy began, suddenly slightly embarrassed for following the woman before replying, "Sorry, it's just… I saw you putting the letters in a basket, and I got curious."

"Are you a writer?" the woman asked.

Lucy shook her head. _But I wish I was._

The woman smiled at her before explaining, "We are the secretaries of Juliet. Every day, you see a number of girls coming over to Magnolia just to write to Juliet."

Lucy hummed in response, noting the letters on the table and the women who were writing on separate sheets of paper. "'Secretaries of Juliet'… that means… you reply to those letters?"

The woman smiled again and nodded.

Lucy gasped. "That's amazing!"

"Well, someone's gotta do it," the woman agreed with her. "I'm Wendy. The redhead over there is Erza. She deals with boyfriend problems since she and her boyfriend Jellal have had so many fights already," and Erza, the pretty redhead closest to the door, blushed at this, "and that's Cana. She deals with abandonment and sickness. She's had abandonment issues and well, she's an alcoholic," to which the gorgeous brunette beside Erza scowled playfully at Wendy but didn't really deny it, "and that's Mirajane. She's a matchmaker, so she honestly just writes anything." This was directed to the beautiful white-haired woman in a sundress who just smiled cheerfully at them.

"And Wendy's the one who reads the letters smudged with tears," Mirajane said sympathetically as she glanced at a letter with said smudges.

Lucy soaked up all this information with awe at how these women actually give love advice to girls, and Lucy felt that this was something she would have loved to do had she been given the opportunity.

Wendy must have sensed something when she offered to have Lucy over at her house for dinner. Lucy had agreed, wanting to get to know these four ladies more, but was immediately distracted by the smell of food wafting through the doorway once she entered.

"Wendy, is that you?" a voice called out from one of the rooms.

Lucy was then led by Erza into a dining room, and it seemed that the three other girls were very familiar with Wendy's house.

"Yes, Mom. I brought some friends over," she replied to her mother. Out of the kitchen, which was connected to the dining room, came out a pale blonde haired woman with blue eyes who was must be Wendy's mother.

"It's nice to see you again, Erza, Mirajane, Cana," she greeted the other three before she turned to Lucy. "Oh, hello. I'm Grandeeney, Wendy's mother. Who might you be?"

"Hi, I'm Lucy," Lucy told her. "I just met Wendy today, actually."

"She was curious about our job," Wendy added as she told Lucy to take a seat beside her.

Grandeeney then served them some bread and salads and roast beef, and for a moment, Lucy felt as if she was back at the Konzern since the quality of the food was definitely the same as that of the Konzern's.

"I'm not surprised. My daughter has a unique job, but it's very helpful to the ladies who need answers," Grandeeney muttered out loud.

"That's true. Thank you for the food, Grandeeney." Lucy said politely, eating her fill and chattering with the other girls before she noticed the time. "Oh! May I be excused?"

"Leaving so soon, Lucy?" Cana asked her, and she was a little disappointed, too, because she had grown close to Cana throughout their discussions for dinner.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I have to get back," Lucy said apologetically.

"Is there someone waiting for you?" Erza asked curiously and Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, my fiancee."

Mirajane squealed at this and said, "I demand a story about this fiancee the next time you drop by the office, okay, Lucy?"

"Yes, I'll be sure to tell you all about him, Mira," Lucy chuckled before she waved at the girls.

"Wait, Lucy, take this back with you!" Grandeeney called out to her, handing her a container filled with dessert. "You can share it with your fiancee."

"Oh, thank you, Grandeeney!" Lucy smiled before hugging the woman and leaving.

* * *

"—and then these girls I met, they're the Secretaries of Juliet. They write back to girls who write letters to Juliet, replying to their problems and difficulties!" Lucy gushed to Natsu, filled to the brim with excitement from how her day went. She continued talking about them to him, until the smile on her face faltered once she noticed that Natsu wasn't completely listening to her. "Natsu?"

"Oh, sorry, Luce, it's just… I smell something good," he pointed out.

_Oh. It must have been the dessert Grandeeney gave me. I'm not surprised. Natsu's always had a sharp nose._

"It's from the mother of one of the secretaries. Her name's Grandeeney. She gave this to me so that I could share it with you," Lucy informed him as she brought out the container and handed him one of the cookies that Grandeeney had placed inside. Inside were also brownies and other biscuits that Lucy had yet to try.

Natsu took it and took a bite, eyes widening, "Luce, this is amazing! Try it, try it!"

He then handed her a cookie, and she took a bite, her eyes widening as well. "This is so good!"

"I know, right?"

And they gushed about the dessert Grandeeney had given them, Lucy's story about her day forgotten.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it for now. I hope you guys liked it :c It's still based off of the ****_Letters to Juliet_**** movie but of course, I changed some things to adapt to the context of Fairy Tail. Anyways, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how this went, so please do review!**

**P.S.: This fanfic will only last around seven chapters. :**

**P.P.S.: Cover image taken from **** fairytail . fandom ****wiki/ Lucy_Heartfilia/ Anime_Gallery**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the favorites and follows and reviews! I'm honored that this fanfic has garnered attention hehe. Replies to reviews can be seen at the bottom of this chapter, as I'm not someone who would rather PM a reply (I don't really check my email a lot to see if there are notifications regarding a PM reply or whatnot, so to not like, leave you guys hanging, this is the best resort).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own Letters to Juliet, and if anyone has had the same idea already, I apologize but I was unaware of it.**

**NOTE: This an AU, so it won't be focused too much on Fairy Tail as a guild. Also, Wendy will be closer to Lucy's age. For this story, all the characters will be about 23-24, while Wendy will be around 21 or 22.**

**Warnings: mild cursing at the end because, well, this character tends to curse**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Natsu-san sounds like a nice person, but — I mean no offense here — why would he leave you alone on your honeymoon?" Wendy asked her as they retrieved letters stuck to the wall of Juliet's house. It honestly surprised Lucy that there were so many letters here, so many heartbreaking anecdotes fit into a piece of paper to ask for guidance, and her heart went out to the writers of the letters.

"He _is_ a nice guy. He just has his restaurant as a big priority, and I really understand that. Coming to Magnolia is a good opportunity to taste new selections of food. Still, I just wish he'd remember why we came here in the first place." Lucy tried to justify Natsu's actions.

They were supposed to go to South Gate Park and Magnolia Bakery this morning, but he had gotten a call from his Uncle Metallicana again, who had given him an appointment with a supplier for spices somewhere in Magnolia. Lucy really didn't care to know the place because that wasn't in today's supposed agenda. Natsu told her she could come along with him — 'and taste the spices together, Luce!' — but tasting spices wasn't a part of the honeymoon she had looked forward to. Still, when confronted with Natsu's puppy dog eyes and begging, Lucy had reluctantly let him go after telling him she would be fine on her own for today. Natsu grinned at her and hugged her before leaving. It left her at a loss at first, wondering what to do alone as she really did want to go sightseeing _with_ Natsu — and going to those places _alone_ just wasn't an appealing idea — but the women she met yesterday came to mind. She visited the women in their office and after exchanging pleasantries, Wendy suggested that she accompany her to get the letters.

"Men," Wendy rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Men," Lucy repeated, giggling as she took down some more letters and placing them in the basket that Wendy had been carrying.

Lucy took down another note but gasped in surprise when the brick from the wall it was placed on fell down. Lucy grinned at Wendy sheepishly, crouching down to pick up the brick and return it to its original place. She was about to put the brick back when she noticed something inside the hole in the wall that she had accidentally made. Carefully, she placed a hand inside and felt the surrounding area before her fingers made contact with something soft but rough. Slowly, she grasped onto the object and pulled it out, eyebrows raising when she noticed it was a letter.

An unopened one.

An old one.

An unanswered plea.

She stood up again and looked at Wendy, whose face showed her surprise. "Wendy, this —"

Wendy nodded. "I can't believe it's been there for so long. You can place it in the basket, Lucy. Let's share it with the others when we get back to the office."

Lucy nodded and did as she was told. She then resumed her initial agenda: taking down the rest of the notes. Still, her mind was still on the letter she had found.

* * *

_Dear Juliet,_

_I didn't go to Zeref. I left him waiting under our tree, our gorgeous tree with its thick roots. It was raining that day, but I had to go back to Tenrou and Cedar. After all, I couldn't just stay in Magnolia. I love Zeref. I really do, but I have duties to my parents, to my sister Zera, to my friends, and to my school. _

_I knew I had to go, and I was already near the port when I changed course and went here. Magnolia is a beautiful city, as beautiful as the memories that I've made in it. But, I don't know what to do._

_Zeref is waiting, but I still have my life back in Tenrou. Please help me, Juliet. I'm so confused. _

_Mavis_

Lucy finished reading the letter aloud to the secretaries, and Mira in particular looked teary-eyed.

"Isn't that romantic? She must have been so in love with him," Erza said before blushing, embarrassed at what she had just said. _Perhaps she isn't usually blunt with such topics,_ Lucy told herself.

"And probably guilty at one point, for leaving him there unanswered," Wendy commiserated solemnly.

Lucy's eyes widened at Wendy comment, the word 'unanswered' echoing in her head. "That's it!"

"What is it, Lucy?" Cana asked curiously.

"It wasn't only Zeref who went unanswered that day," Lucy pointed out. "Mavis, too, never got her reply. I know it's been like fifty years, but don't you think she deserves an answer anyways?"

The four other women looked at each other, as if telepathically discussing the suggestion Lucy had brought up. Eventually, Wendy smiled and grabbed a sand colored paper and a pen, handing the items to Lucy.

"You can write the reply, Lucy-san."

* * *

Laxus Dreyar was having a good day. He had played tennis with his friends, and he had gotten new weights to try on later. He was feeling really energized and it had led to him jogging around the stone paths of his family's pristine mansion in Cedar. He had gone eleven laps around the paths when their butler, Claus, approached him with a tray in hand.

"Master Laxus?"

"Yes, Claus?" Laxus wiped the sweat on his brow with the back of his hand, jogging in place.

"There is a letter here for Mistress Mavis," Claus informed him, reaching the silver tray out to him. There was a letter on the tray, but oddly enough, "and it came from the Magnolia."

"Huh," Laxus let out, one eyebrow raised as he took the letter. Claus bowed and left him alone, but Laxus didn't notice. He was too busy wondering why there was a letter for his great-grandmother from Magnolia of all places. He was very sure that his great-grandmother didn't have friends there, or if she did, she hadn't kept in contact with them. Whenever his great-grandmother would talk about Magnolia, she never had any stories where she was past the age of about nineteen or twenty. So, this letter was really puzzling.

Shrugging, he jogged back inside the mansion, changing into his indoor shoes and grabbing a towel from a nearby closet, wiping the sweat from his face and neck before heading towards his great-grandmother's bedroom. As he neared her door, he could hear her playing the piano, a hobby she had never grown out of. The solemn tune emanating from the keys of the instrument probably meant that she was thinking of something long gone.

He frowned. He didn't like it when she was sad.

He stopped by her door, lifting a hand and knocking twice on her door.

"Come in," she called out, the tune stopping abruptly as she turned her full attention to the doorway. He entered and closed the door behind him, walking towards her with the letter in his hand.

"This came from Magnolia. I didn't know you still knew anyone there, old hag," Laxus commented.

The word 'Magnolia' surprised her, confirming his assumption that she didn't keep in contact with anyone there. _So who sent her that?_

"Magnolia, you say?" his great-grandmother hummed, taking the letter from him gently, fingers gently tracing the outline of the letter's envelope before opening it. Inside were two papers: one that was sand colored and smelled like vanilla, while the other one was — "Oh my."

"What is it?" Laxus asked, noticing that his great-grandmother had started to tear up.

* * *

It was one of those days where she remembered Magnolia. And Zeref. How could she even remember a happy place without remembering the person who had helped make that way?

She could still clearly remember his warm gaze when she had tried riding a horse. It probably amused him — her, a tiny girl, trying to ride a horse that was taller than herself. She still managed at the end of the day, and it hurt her slightly when she also remembered that by leaving Magnolia, she had left behind her horse as well.

She had actually left many others behind when she had gone back home. She never kept in touch with them, especially Zeref, for fear that her father would find out and do something awful about it. She hadn't put it past him at the time, hence why she was surprised when her great-grandson had delivered a letter to her from Magnolia, of all places.

Curiously, she opened the letter's envelope and saw two papers inside, one sand colored paper that smelled like vanilla and one that — "Oh my."

"What is it?" she heard her great-grandson ask in slight worry, but it was honestly nothing for him to worry about.

She didn't reply to him, instead taking out the second paper, a rather crumpled one that had become colored brown through time. The ink that had once shown a gorgeous script had faded slightly. Still, it was a letter that she knew very well.

"Old hag," Laxus called out to her with a scowl. Her great-grandson really didn't like to be kept waiting.

Mavis smiled at him, though she noticed her eyes had gotten rather teary upon the revelation of the letter's contents. "It's something from long ago, from when I was still in Magnolia."

"What—?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Mavis smiled playfully and waved his concerns away. "Hush, child, let me read in peace."

With that, she ushered him gently out of her room despite his protests. She heard him grumble before walking away, probably to their gym on the third floor. She chuckled before turning her attention back on the other letter.

She hadn't expected this. When she hid that letter she had written years ago, she honestly wasn't thinking. On one hand, she had been asking for guidance from Juliet. She knew that people who wrote to her had gotten replies. Still, her paranoia had gotten the best of her, fearing that her father or someone she knew would come to Magnolia and see what she had written. And so, she hid the letter inside a loose brick, but stupidly, she hoped that one day, someone would find her letter and she'd receive a reply from Juliet.

After all these years, she had honestly lost hope of ever getting a reply, and it wasn't as if a reply would have done her any good. After graduating, she had met Yuri Dreyar, and she wouldn't lie and say that he was ugly. On the contrary, he was quite handsome and well-mannered, and she was fond of his jokes. Her parents had noticed and had drawn up a marriage contract for them. He had become quite a dear friend to her, so she didn't have any problems with the contract. Neither did he, as the only girl he ever loved had already left him for someone else. (Though, Mavis never felt that she had been the second option. She genuinely liked Yuri's company.)

So, to finally get a reply, after all these years, made her recall the moments she had spent with Zeref, of her happy years in Magnolia, and her fingers shook slightly as she slowly opened the vanilla-scented paper.

And so she read.

* * *

Laxus was still a little worried about his great-grandmother, and though it distracted him slightly from his workout, he figured she'd tell him later on.

After wiping the sweat from his face and putting the weights down, he did some cooldown exercises before heading off to his room for a shower. Afterwards, he had put on whatever clothes he could find and headed to the dining hall, where their maids would have already prepared their meal.

He found his great-grandmother already at the table, sitting on the chair to the left of the chair his grandfather had once occupied. He sat across her, serving himself some stew and beef.

"The letter?" he prompted, huffing.

She chuckled again, seemingly amused by his annoyance, before replying, "In Magnolia, there's this place. Juliet's house."

"Juliet as in—"

"Yes, that very Juliet," his great-grandmother smiled before continuing, "and girls from all over the world write to Juliet for advice on their love lives. The letter I received today was a response, after all these years, from when I had written to Juliet back then."

"For help with the old man?"

His great-grandmother hesitated before shaking her head. "No, before your great-grandfather, I had… fancied someone else. His name was Zeref."

At her confession, Laxus felt a little stunned. He hadn't been aware that his great-grandmother had ever loved anyone else. It was rather disconcerting, but he motioned for her to continue. He was old enough now to know that rebelling against this new piece of information — like the way he had rebelled against his grandfather, Makarov, years ago.

His great-grandmother smiled at him gently. "I met him in Magnolia. I was on an… _adventure_, so to speak. It was mostly a study tour, but there were days where we students were allowed to mingle and go off on our own, and then I met him there, somewhere in the forest, and we hit it off.

I had to leave him, though. My father wasn't the most welcoming towards those who weren't of… equal status. So, Zeref became my secret, but the study tour couldn't last long, and I was afraid of what my father would do, so I wrote a letter to Juliet before leaving for my childhood home in Tenrou."

Laxus digested the information, understanding that he couldn't really fault his great-grandmother for this. She had been but a teenager when she had been on that study tour. "But what about the old man?"

"I met Yuri afterwards. We were in an arranged marriage, as you know, but he was my closest friend."

"But you still liked the Zeref guy," he bluntly stated, a little displeased when his great-grandmother made no move to deny it.

"You never really forget your first love, Laxus," his great-grandmother told him.

Laxus rolled his eyes at that, remembering his first — and so far, only ex — girlfriend, who he had easily moved on from and forgotten about. "Sure."

He noticed that she still fiddled with the letter in her hands. "So, you got a reply back."

"Yes," his great-grandmother told him, "and I was quite touched by the letter."

He nodded. "Yeah, it makes—"

"And I'd like to go on a trip to Magnolia."

"—complete— wait, _what the fuck_?"

* * *

**A/N: Hope this chapter was nice! I honestly don't know how Claire (from the movie ****_Letters to Juliet_****) took the news about the letter and how she had convinced Charlie to go on the trip to Verona with her, so I hope that in this Fairy Tail context, I got the characters right. Writing Laxus was really hard for me, so I hope I did him justice. If not, please to give me some advice. :)**

**ALSO: if you have any suggestions on who Laxus' ex-girlfriend could possible be, please do suggest! It can't be Mira, Cana, Erza, or Wendy, though, nor can it be any of their blood-related siblings (i.e. Lisanna). Doesn't have to anyone from the Fairy Tail guild, though.**

**P.S: fyi, so I made Laxus' family tree like this - Yuri Dreyar married Mavis Vermillion and they have one son, Makarov, who probably married Porlyusica and got Ivan Dreyar, who married an unnamed wife to spawn Laxus. **

**P.P.S: I made Tenrou Island as Mavis' childhood home, but she studied and currently lives in Cedar. I just searched for a random town in Fiore, and Cedar just felt like a nice town.**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)**

**suzaanoelofse01: You're welcome, hehe! I love LaLu fics, too, so when I rewatched the ****_Letters to Juliet_**** movie, I just ****_had_**** to write this!**

**Tiernank: Thank you so much!**

**ROCKCHIC179: I love the movie, too! And I can't wait for Laxus and Lucy to meet as well, though I am still brainstorming on how their interaction and conversation will go.**

**Guest (March 25): Here you go! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for the favorites and follows and reviews! I'm honored that this fanfic has garnered attention hehe. Replies to reviews can be seen at the bottom of this chapter, as I'm not someone who would rather PM a reply (I don't really check my email a lot to see if there are notifications regarding a PM reply or whatnot, so to not like, leave you guys hanging, this is the best resort).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own Letters to Juliet, and if anyone has had the same idea already, I apologize but I was unaware of it.**

**NOTE: This an AU, so it won't be focused too much on Fairy Tail as a guild. Also, Wendy will be closer to Lucy's age. For this story, all the characters will be about 23-24, while Wendy will be around 21 or 22.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Lucy was having a pleasant day despite her fiancee's absence. She hadn't given up hope on being able to go sightseeing with Natsu, but with the man being constantly distracted by potential clients and new food, Lucy had busied herself with writing and with hanging out with the Secretaries of Juliet. The four girls had brightened up her mood considerably as they all shared stories about each other.

Lucy decided to settle down by a table near the window, the natural light from the sun motivating her to write. She wanted to write a novel or a short story, but inspiration just wasn't hitting her right now, so she had stuck to just writing ideas down for future use. She had just been writing an idea about a girl and her friends on an adventure to find this clock when a knock on the door of the room pulled her out of her thoughts. She directed her attention to the door and found a very tall and well-muscled man wearing a purple dress shirt, black pants, boots, and a fur coat. The man's hair was spiky and moved with him as he took a step forward into the room, his yellow eyes observing its occupants.

Cana, who was the closest to Lucy, leaned towards the blonde girl and smirked as she whispered, "I know you're engaged and all, but please tell me you agree when I say that man is _fine_."

Having gotten used to Cana's personality, Lucy only chuckled at her before redirecting her attention to the man by the door.

"You the Secretaries of Juliet?" he asked.

It was Erza who nodded at him and stood up. "Yes. Did you need something?"

The response made him click his tongue before he shoved a hand inside one of his pockets, retrieving a familiar sand colored letter. "I'd like to know which one of you had the _genius_ idea to reply to my great-grandmother's letter."

Lucy gasped, an excited smile forming on her face. Her letter had made it to its recipient, and she was actually meeting someone related to Mavis! Lucy hadn't honestly expected much when she had sent the reply. Wendy and Mira agreed when they thought that while Mavis would have appreciated the response, it wasn't likely for the old woman to do anything about it. But here was the great-grandson, whose yellow eyes had focused on Lucy upon hearing her gasp.

Lucy stood up and walked towards the man with a smile. "That would be me."

* * *

He had tried arguing against his great-grandmother's impulsive decision to book the nearest ship to Magnolia regardless of the price the tickets would cost. He was sure she hadn't even thought of booking a hotel for them to stay in if they needed to.

"Oh, silly boy, go pack your bags if you're coming with me. If not, then let me be," she had told him while laughing, shooing him away from her room so that she could begin to pack. Even when the door had been locked after he had been pushed out, he had stared at the door with a shocked expression, unable to process his great-grandmother's way of thinking.

When he had snapped out of his shock, he grumbled before heading to his room to pack, as well. He was going to have to bail on Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed, but those three could survive without him. Despite what his great-grandmother may think, though, he would have to be the rational one during this trip, so she definitely needed him. Otherwise, who knew what kinds of things his great-grandmother would do? What if she found this Zeref person and decided to hang out again, or what if she _didn't_ find this Zeref person and simply decided to go sightseeing in Magnolia? His great-grandmother was as random as any random person could get, so he wouldn't put it past her to do so without telling him.

So, a few hours later, he found himself on a ship to Magnolia with his smirking great-grandmother beside him.

"I knew you'd want to come along."

"Shut up, you old hag."

Of course, the ride hadn't lasted long, and he found himself following his great-grandmother, who seemed to remember the way to what she called 'Juliet's House' as if she had been a Magnolian local. They had reached their destination quickly and his great-grandmother had asked him to look for the secretary that had written the letter while she gazed at the letters stuck on the walls. Laxus sighed, telling the woman to be careful before letting her reminisce on her own.

He had asked a passerby for directions to wherever the secretaries of Juliet were, and he had been directed to a nearby restaurant just a block away, with instructions to enter it and to head to the second floor.

He had followed the instructions clearly and found himself standing in front of a room with an open door. He knew he was in the right place, though, because the door was labelled 'Secretaries of Juliet' in gold, cursive letters. He had knocked on the door, earning the attention of the five women inside the room.

The room had an elongated table filled with scattered piles of letters. Four women gathered around that table, with two women on each side. They all had loose sheets of paper with them, and seemed to be in the process of replying to letters. Definitely secretaries, then. His gaze then landed on a blonde woman by the window, who had been writing in a rather large, leather-bound notebook.

Deciding to get to the matter at hand, he asked for additional confirmation, "You the Secretaries of Juliet?"

It was a redheaded woman who nodded at him and stood up. "Yes. Did you need something?"

He clicked his tongue before retrieving the letter that had been sent to his grandmother. "I'd like to know which one of you had the _genius_ idea to reply to my great-grandmother's letter."

It was the blonde woman who had gasped and stood up, walking towards him and smiling as she said, "That would be me."

If the situation were different, Laxus would probably have flirted with her. The woman was gorgeous, and her brown eyes were very inviting. Still, it was this woman who had caused all the unnecessary trouble for him, so he removed any thought of flirting with her. "Do you have any idea of how stupid you are, Blondie?"

The smile on her face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a confused and mildly offended look. "Excuse me? And 'Blondie'? You're blonde, too!"

"What exactly were you trying to accomplish by sending that letter? To give the old hag false hope that this dude she loved when she was a _teenage_ was still alive and that she still had a chance with him?" Laxus told her. His irritation at the situation was coming out in his words, and he had no intentions of stopping. "Didn't you stop to think for one moment that the letter was so old and that my old hag probably settled down somewhere and had a family of her own?"

He could see that the blonde woman was shocked by his words. She opened her mouth, probably to defend her actions with some pathetic excuse about true love or shit like that, so he rolled his eyes before stuffing the letter back in his pocket and leaving. Despite his great-grandmother's wished, Laxus really didn't want to associate with the secretaries, especially the blonde one, because it was their response that had fueled this spontaneous trip. What did they even hope to achieve?

He scoffed and shook his head as he marched down the street, heading back to his great-grandmother. He found the old hag there in the position he had left her in, and it looked like she had been holding back tears. If he had known that just being in the area was already hurting her this much, he would have fought harder to prevent the trip from happening in the first place.

He fought the urge to sigh. Life had been just fine and normal a few hours ago. Why did the letter have to come?

He cleared his throat when he neared her. "Old hag, let's go. Maybe find somethin' to eat, too. Pretty sure I threw up whatever I ate when we were on that ship. I'm starving."

"Alright, dear." His words had at least brought out an amused laugh from her, and they moved to find a nearby restaurant — definitely not the one near the secretaries — before they found someone standing in front of them. Laxus groaned when he saw her; it was the blonde woman.

Speak of the devil.

* * *

The place hadn't changed much. The walls were just as they were years ago, when she had been a distraught teenager writing a letter for guidance, although she did notice that time had dulled the walls' colors. Mavis glanced at the colorful letter stuck on the walls, and her heart went out to the girls who were suffering, too. Mavis hoped they would all receive replies for advice; she felt that she was lucky enough that her own letter, which she had purposely hidden inside a brick in fear of her family finding it, was found and had received a prompt reply upon being found.

She glanced at one of the benches below the balcony of Juliet's house, remembering how she had sat there under the rain, crying as she wrote about how she was going to be leaving Zeref. Mavis sighed as she closed her eyes briefly.

Zeref.

Was he still alive? Was he married now? Had he forgotten about her? Or was he dead?

She winced at the thought and shook her head. No, she would rather he be happily married to one of the girls that had fawned over him years ago than to be dead. She wouldn't be able to take it if he was.

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't surprised to notice that she had been tearing up. She was so close and yet so far. Could he even be found? Would he want to be found? Would he want to see her again?

Her saddening train of though would have continued had her great-grandson not arrived and cleared his throat, saying, "Old hag, let's go. Maybe find somethin' to eat, too. Pretty sure I threw up whatever I ate when we were on that ship. I'm starving."

"Alright, dear," she let out an amused laugh, eyes quickly drying up as he began to lead her down to a restaurant, only for them to pause at the sight of a curious blonde girl with brown eyes.

Her great-grandson groaned beside her, but she spoke before he could say anything else, "Yes?"

"Are you, perhaps, Mavis?" the blonde woman asked with a hesitant but determined smile.

"Yes, I am," Mavis replied, which caused the blonde woman to smile brightly. "And may I know who you are?"

"I'm Lucy. I'm the one who wrote you the letter," the blonde woman, Lucy, said shyly.

Mavis' eyes widened as she hurried over to Lucy with glee. She held Lucy's hands in her own. "Bless you, girl. I'd like to thank you so much for your letter. I… I hadn't expected a response at all."

"It was hidden for a reason, huh?" Lucy smiled.

"Indeed," Mavis returned the smile, much to her great-grandson's displeasure. She rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention to Lucy, "I'm sorry if Laxus didn't treat you well. He wasn't very supportive of me coming back to Magnolia."

"It shows," Lucy said dryly as she raised an eyebrow at Laxus.

This caused Mavis to laugh. "Truly. However, I must apologize once more. I'm afraid I'll have to cut this conversation short for a little while. Laxus _is_ quite hungry. Would you happen to know a place?"

"Oh, yes!" Lucy said excitedly as she led them down to a quaint restaurant, and ushered them to a table. "I'll be right back. I'll just go call the other secretaries of Juliet. I'm sure you'd love to meet them!"

Mavis' eyes widened with excitement as she patiently waited for the bubbly blonde to return.

"We can eat somewhere else," Laxus offered, not even hiding his dislike for the blonde.

"I don't understand why you don't like her. She was perfectly pleasant."

"She wrote you a reply. That's why I don't like her."

"Now, Laxus—" but her incoming lecture had been cut off by the sounds of chattering. Mavis looked towards the staircase of the restaurant, where Lucy, followed by four other women, came down and headed towards them.

Lucy introduced the other women to her: Erza, the redhead; Cana, the brunette; Mirajane, the girl with white hair; and Wendy, the girl with blue hair, before they all ordered some food for them to enjoy.

* * *

"—and he the most beautiful smile," Mavis gushed to the people surrounding her on the table as she recounted how she had met her Zeref. Lucy found it adorable how, even after all this time, the woman had never forgotten her first love. It was a lucky feeling to have.

"Yes, but I wouldn't exist if you'd ended up with him, now I would I, you old hag?" Laxus grumbled, and Lucy shot a scowl at the older, taller blonde. He noticed her look and looked at her challengingly before Mavis pinched his arm, causing him to jump. "The hell was that for?"

"Be nice," Mavis said while clicking her tongue before turning to Lucy. "I can't thank you enough, Lucy. Your letter gave me reason to come back here."

"Yeah, and to go on a stupid, self-appointed quest to find him," Laxus added bitterly, addressing Lucy this time when he said, "And this is _your_ fault, Blondie."

Lucy simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Would you like to come over to our hotel tomorrow morning, Lucy? I'd love to get to know you a little more before we start searching for Zeref," Mavis asked her, ignoring her great-grandson.

"Before _you_ start searching for Zeref. I'm just going along in case you—" Laxus interjected, but was again ignored by both females.

"I'd love to!" Lucy grinned as she began to exchange contact details with Mavis.

Laxus just groaned in response.

* * *

**A/N: Not sure if this was a good chapter :c but I hope it's to your liking! And I'm sorry it took me some time to update. It was a mix of writer's block and the fact that I went abroad + got sick when I got back.**

**P.S.: Shameless plug-in, but I just recently wrote a crossover fanfic for Kuroko no Basuke and Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It's about a fem!Kuroko being Tsuna's cousin and staying in Namimori for the summer (the summer before she starts Seirin). Pairing is Yamamoto Takeshi x fem! Kuroko Tetsuya. If you think this might be interesting, please do check it out! :)**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)**

**nightfall252524: True. I could consider Yukino hehe. Thank you for the suggestion!**

**Tiernank: I hope you liked how Laxus and Lucy interacted here! Laxus is a hard character to write :c**

**ROCKCHICK179: That's so nice to hear, thank you so much! But, I agree: I think Natsu would be the type to just focus on one goal and ignore everything else.**

**Guest (Apr 15): Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've been busy with exams, party preparations, and working out (gotta get fit before school starts yk), coupled with bouts of writer's block :c I also haven't had time to rewatch the movie to make sure that the details I'll be adding are correct, but I hope you enjoy the chapter either way!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own Letters to Juliet, and if anyone has had the same idea already, I apologize but I was unaware of it.**

**NOTE: This an AU, so it won't be focused too much on Fairy Tail as a guild. Also, Wendy will be closer to Lucy's age. For this story, all the characters will be about 23-24, while Wendy will be around 21 or 22.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Lucy was very pleased. Earlier this morning, she had gone on to meet Mavis at the hotel the woman was staying in, and they had clicked. It didn't help that they also enjoyed teasing Laxus, who seemed to be annoyed with both females. His annoyance towards her seemed to have increased when she asked if she could help them with the search. Upon mentioning that she had a passion for writing, Mavis' bulky great-grandson had snarled at her, telling his great-grandmother to just drop her because he didn't want 'pesky journalists writing about personal stories'. It had taken Mavis chewing him out for his attitude, and Lucy mentioning that she also worked as a fact checker, for her to be on board with the search for Zeref.

Currently, she, Mavis, and Laxus were taking a break somewhere in the countryside. Laxus was brooding, still completely against this search, so he stood off a few meters away from the women, who were sitting down on a bench located underneath a large tree. Lucy was sitting with her back facing the tree, her journal on the table in front of her. Although the warm breeze and the rustling of the leaves made the place an ideal location to write in, Lucy just couldn't find inspiration right now. All she had written down in her journal were the various facts that Mavis had mentioned throughout their car ride.

Mavis, having noticed her dilemma, had saved her from it by telling her more about Zeref. "He loved the earth, you know?"

Lucy blinked, eyes shifting to the older woman. "Zeref, you mean?"

Mavis nodded. "Yes. He always found beauty in nature. Unfortunately, he couldn't grow plants to save his life." At this, she snorted before continuing, "I watched him once, you know. I believe it was a school project. They were to try and grow some flowers at home, but after giving the plant water, it died after. I was shocked to see it. When I looked at him, he was moping and telling me that he would fail. Of course, I grew another flower for him to help."

"It must have been awful for him," Lucy sympathized, "to kill that which he so loved."

"It was," Mavis commiserated. "He was very different. Zeref." Mavis then gestured towards Laxus, who had taken to doing some stretches. "Laxus and his great-grandfather… I love them both, but they also take after each other too well. They don't really see love as something beautiful. They think it's hormonal."

Lucy glanced at the man and couldn't help but notice Laxus' muscles, which were easy to see as he had opted for a short-sleeved white top today. It really was unfortunate that he had that kind of mindset. She would have loved to get to know him more, seeing as his great-grandmother was a joy to be around, but she didn't understand how he could just blame hormones for love. Attraction was definitely because of hormones, but love was a choice.

Lucy sighed, turning back to Mavis. "It's an odd way of thinking."

"That it is," Mavis sighed, as well. "And what about you, though, Lucy? Any romance on your part?"

Lucy chuckled, showing the woman her engagement ring. "I have a fiancee."

Mavis gasped with delight, gently holding Lucy's hand as she examined the ring. "He has nice taste. In both the ring and the girl in question."

Lucy smiled. "I suppose he does."

"How did you meet?"

"I met him at a school organization called _Fairy Tail_. It was an organization my mother had mentioned to me before, and I was curious about it. Natsu, my fiancee, was actually the one who brought me there, and, in a sense, recruited me. The organization did odd jobs around the school, and the students paid us to do it. Members of _Fairy Tail_ could do those jobs by themselves or in a group. Natsu asked to partner with me, and well, we got close after that." Lucy smiled. "I was actually surprised when he came over to the house to ask my father for permission to be my boyfriend. I wasn't allowed to have one then, and my father really did his best to intimidate Natsu, but Natsu was oblivious to my father's threats. He never took those seriously. I guess my father saw that Natsu wasn't going to go away, and while he would tell me every day that he disapproved, he knew he couldn't really do anything to keep Natsu away."

"Then, how did Natsu get your father's blessing for the engagement?"

Lucy grew silent, wincing as she remembered just _how_ Natsu had asked for the blessing.

"He didn't really have to," Lucy admitted after a while. "My father died a year before Natsu considered an engagement. So, Natsu just took me to my father's grave and asked me there."

Lucy glanced at the older woman with a hesitant smile, but Mavis looked at her with teary eyes and a warm smile.

"I'm sure your father would have been proud of him that day. And he would have been proud of your choice in a fiancee," Mavis said, holding Lucy's hands tightly in comfort.

"I hope so," Lucy chuckled but frowned.

Mavis noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "You're doubting your decision?"

Lucy opened her mouth a few times to try and speak, but couldn't seem to find a way to word what she felt about the question until she sighed and said, "I don't know, but maybe I'm just affected by how my vacation in Magnolia has been. It was supposed to be our pre-honeymoon, you know? Natsu's an amazing chef, and he's opening up a restaurant back in our town soon, so we weren't sure if we could even have a honeymoon in the first place because he'd get busy, and when he got calls from his suppliers in Magnolia to taste test a few things, well, I couldn't really blame him for jumping on the chance, you know? At the same time, I just—"

"You wish he would spend time with you."

Lucy nodded, guilt clear on her face. "I don't want to be selfish."

"You're not," Mavis insisted. "The reason you came to Magnolia was to spend time with each other. It's wrong for him to put his suppliers first."

"But the restaurant—"

"—can wait, Lucy. He should know how to treat a woman, _especially_ on a pre-honeymoon."

Lucy couldn't find a proper reply to that, but Mavis didn't seem to need one. Instead, the woman just squeezed her hands once more before calling for Laxus.

* * *

They arrived at a quaint house with a few windows. Mavis told them that this was where Zeref used to live, and she excitedly got out of the car. Lucy could tell that the woman was still a little nervous, though, so she squeezed Mavis' arm in comfort before she hurried over to the front door.

An old man with a cigar hanging between his lips answered the door and gave Lucy a polite smile. "Yes?"

"We're looking for Zeref Dragneel?" Lucy said.

The man blinked. "Yes, I'm Zeref Dragneel. Did you need something?"

Lucy gasped in surprise and looked at Mavis, who hesitantly approached.

"Hi. I'm Mavis. Mavis Vermillion? We used to go horseback riding. Do you… remember me?"

The man glanced at Mavis with a furrowed brow but shook his head hesitantly. "Sorry, but I'm sure I'd remember a dame like you. I think you got the wrong person. I hope you find him, though."

Mavis and Lucy sighed before the man closed the door.

"I told you this was going to be a disappointing trip," Laxus sneered at Lucy, causing her to glare at him.

"That was just one out of the many Zeref Dragneels out there. Don't be so pessimistic."

"I'm being _realistic_. There's a difference, Blondie," Laxus narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm out here wasting gas and money on someone who might not even be in Magnolia anymore. Did you even consider that? And what if all of this is for nothing? What if it's just a wild goose chase?"

"Really, Laxus, must we argue about this again?" Mavis cut in dryly before Lucy could give an irritated response back. While the great-grandmother and her great-grandson argued _again_, Lucy was working on calming herself down. She really couldn't understand Laxus. While he had a point, why couldn't he also consider that _maybe_ the Zeref they were looking for _was_ still here? And what if they had given up this early on? What then? Why couldn't he understand that?

Lucy took a deep breath before heading over to Mavis, who had won the argument yet again. "There are probably other Zeref Dragneels nearby. Let's try our luck again tomorrow, hmm?"

* * *

They ended up in a nearby hotel that, thankfully, was beside a library. After checking some of the books there, which held an account of the population of Magnolia, and some details about its residents, Lucy was able to narrow down a location on the map of Magnolia where they could concentrate on finding Zeref. Admittedly, the books on the residents were hard to get, and Lucy had to use all of her persuasion skills and training as the heiress of the Heartfilia Konzern to get access to them. Mavis' stories about her time with Zeref also helped in pinpointing possible areas to search in.

By the time she was finished, Lucy's map had a giant red circle on it, and red dots to show where the Zeref Dragneels were. It was this map that she showed Mavis, who was lounging by the pool.

Mavis looked on in awe at the map and beamed at her. "Your skills are impressive, Lucy."

"It just took some time and practice," Lucy said humbly before she took a seat next o Mavis, stretching her arms and basking underneath the sun. It was around three in the afternoon, and the sun was still warm enough for Lucy to enjoy.

"I really must thank you, Lucy. Without you, I wouldn't even know where to start searching for him. I know that we weren't able to find him a while ago, but I'm confident that we have a higher chance of finding him, now that we have your map," Mavis told her, causing Lucy to chuckle.

"I'm happy to be of help, Mavis. You're helping me out, too, giving me permission to write about our adventure," Lucy smiled.

"It _is_ a joy to be around someone so like-minded," Mavis returned the smile. "Were you planning on swimming?"

Lucy shook her head. "Natsu's a little overprotective when I swim without him in the area. That, and I didn't think to bring my swimsuit along with me. My decision _was_ a little impromptu, after all."

"Yes, the fiancee," Mavis said dryly. After sharing some more stories about Natsu, Mavis seemed to start doubting him. Lucy couldn't seem to figure out why, but was thankful that Mavis wasn't bluntly telling her that she didn't like Natsu. "Well, that's fine. An old lady needs some company, too."

"Did Laxus leave you alone?"

"Oh, no, but he _is_ swimming. See?" Mavis pointed at Laxus, and Lucy followed the finger's direction to Laxus' well-toned body. He was shirtless and Lucy could see the defined six-pack on his torso. He seemed to be doing laps around the pool and Lucy found herself staring at his form.

* * *

Mavis didn't think she would ever become a matchmaker. She never entertained the possibility, especially when the match Yury had initially planned for Laxus, a Yukino Agria from a minor family, didn't turn out so well. However, as she stared at the younger girl who seemed transfixed by her great-grandson, she wondered if she could start now.

She knew it was rather inappropriate of her to do so. Lucy already had a fiancee, and her great-grandson just wasn't in the mood for anything romantic, especially after what happened with Yukino. She also knew that Lucy and Laxus' mindsets about love differed greatly.

It would be so, so wrong for her to even entertain the thought of Laxus with Lucy, a girl she had met just recently and probably didn't even know a lot about. Still, it didn't hurt to indulge in fantasies every now and then.

* * *

"…What?"

"Yeah, might be back by Friday tops, if ever. Sorry, Luce! It's just there are so many opportunities here, and well, it's not like we're returning to Magnolia anytime soon right? And, uh…" he started to trail off, probably searching for more excuses, but Lucy understood. She always did.

"It's okay, Natsu. This trip with Mavis might actually take some time, too."

"Oh, well, then, that's great! I mean, we both win, right? I promise I'll see you on Saturday, though, Luce. We'll spend the whole day together!"

Sometimes, it hurt Lucy to understand, but in this instance, it somehow hurt a little less.

* * *

The next few Zerefs weren't the ones they were looking for. One Zeref had played chess with Mavis, and he had flirted with her the whole while, but in the end, told her that he hoped she would find _her_ Zeref. Another Zeref owned a ridiculously huge mansion that reminded Lucy of the Heartfilia estate, and this Zeref had kindly told Mavis that had he been her Zeref, he would never have let her go. The four other Zerefs they had visited that day had all said the same thing, and though disappointed that they weren't _the one_s, Mavis was thankful for their kindness and support.

Once it was nighttime, they stayed at the hotel once more, enjoying their dinner. They had also engaged in small talk before Mavis yawned, kissing Lucy's forehead and slapping Laxus's cheek gently before heading up to her room. The action made Lucy snort quietly before she returned to her delicious meal consisting of steak and mashed potatoes, with a strawberry milkshake awaiting her as her dessert.

"I don't hate you," her companion said once she had finished with her meal. She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes at her before adding, "I just don't like this… _thing_, okay? I don't want her to get hurt, is all."

At that admission, Lucy felt her gaze soften. He had just been worried. It wasn't that he had wholeheartedly been against this for selfish reasons. He just didn't want Mavis hurt. Lucy scolded herself for ever judging him like that. "I'm sorry I thought otherwise. And… I understand what you feel, but can you also consider that maybe this search won't be fruitless? That maybe we might actually find Zeref and Mavis can get her closure? She deserves that."

"And if he ends up dead? What then?"

Lucy sighed instead, halfheartedly mixing her strawberry milkshake before taking a sip. "It's still closure, isn't it? I'd prefer him to be alive and well. I just want her to get closure. It sucks, you know, to not be able to say the words you needed to tell someone. It's going to bother her. It's been bothering her for years, hasn't it?"

Laxus shrugged. "Guess so. Wasn't really obvious until your letter came. Always thought she just missed great-grandfather."

And Lucy could admit that that must have sucked, to find out that your great-grandmother had been in love with someone other than the man she had married, but she had always been a romantic, and she really hoped Mavis would find Zeref. "But you never really forget your first love."

Laxus snorted. "Not true for everyone."

Lucy tilted her head in curiosity. "Bitter feelings there."

"Yeah, well, when the girl who would have become your fiancee is caught making out with your cousin in your own house, it tends to get messy."

Lucy winced at the blunt admission. "That's terrible. I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Broke up with her after. I didn't love her, so I don't think you'd count that as 'first love' or whatnot, but it was messy."

Lucy reached out to squeeze his hands, taking him by surprise. "There'll be someone out there for you."

"You seriously believe in that whole _soulmate_ crap?"

"I just want to believe that everyone will eventually have someone. Maybe not in this life, but eventually, you know? No one deserves to be alone."

* * *

**A/N: I hope this was a good chapter :c, and thank you so much for the support! See ya in the next chapter!**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)**

**suzaanoelofse01: Thank you so much! That's very nice to hear c: I'm honestly having some trouble keeping Laxus in character for when he does come out of his shell, so I hope my writing of him will be able to meet your expectations c:**

**Tiernank: Thank you! I'm honored to hear that c:**

**annaayuki: Thank you! Here's the update c:**

**Guest (Jun 10): Thanks! c:**

**Mavi wavy (Jun 10): Thank you! c:**

**Liligo: Thank you! Here's the update c:**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Omg I'm so sorry for being gone for so long. It was a mix of writer's block + acads (I didn't think college would be that draining) but anyways yes I have returned and I do plan on finishing this fanfic ASAP. I owe it to y'all hehe.**

**Hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Natsu was honestly having the time of his life. He already scored four financial investors for his restaurant, and two of those were also willing to become his suppliers. His dream of putting up a restaurant was really, really shaping up to be his reality soon enough. It was a shame Lucy didn't seem very interested in the investor hunt, but he knew she enjoyed writing. Maybe without him around, she would be free to travel to spots that could hopefully give her inspiration to write.

He knew her dream was to be a writer. Being a fact checker was fun and all, but he knew that deep down, creating her own stories was her main goal. He had even read one of her drafts before — he recalled getting yelled at for snooping, to be honest — and he knew how good she really was. So, really, he didn't want to hold her back from potential inspiration moments if he was dragging her around Magnolia to go to food events with him.

At least, that was his justification when Metallicana called him earlier, asking why he had received a call from Levy who had received an email from Lucy saying she was off on an adventure without Natsu. When it was supposed to be their _pre-honeymoon._

"Natsu," Metallicana sighed, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You're an idiot."

"What? What did I do, old man?" Natsu whined as he took a bite from one of the grapes he had in his bowl. He was only taking a lunch break on his own at one of the smaller restaurants in Magnolia before he went off to his next potential investor.

"You don't ask your girl to go on a pre-honeymoon and not have the pre-honeymoon. Even a first grader would know that."

"Yeah, but you also gave me investors to look through, and _they_ gave me investors to look through. How could I say no? I'm not in Magnolia all the time," Natsu reasoned out.

"Natsu," Metallicana sounded like he had hit his forehead with his palm, "Magnolia will always just be in Magnolia. But your girl? You're not gonna find her again. I'm telling you, boy, this is just dumb. I gave you _three_ potential investors, who you could have met with for just one day. And now I hear you've left Lucy alone for _days_."

Natsu frowned, guilt seeping in. Metallicana had a point. He _had_ finished the list Metallicana had given him, but he had instantly jumped at the thought of having _more_. And he did get more than he expected, but at what cost? "Damn, you're right, old man. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Right," Natsu nodded. "I'm gonna finish with the investor I'm meeting up today and then I'm cancelling on the rest of them. Lucy's gotta come first."

"Congratulations on your realization," Metallicana said sarcastically before chuckling. "You better pamper her when you get back. She deserves it."

"You got it!" Natsu grinned, head already swimming with ideas on how to make it up to Lucy. He wasn't going to meet up with the rest of the investors anymore. Sure, he'd have to explain himself but he's sure they'd understand. Besides, he could spend the rest of the days preparing for Lucy to come back, so he would buy her some cake, and maybe some flowers, and then—

* * *

_Later that night, with Lucy and the others…_

Lucy was writing on her journal, detailing the events that had happened today. They had met up with a few more Zerefs who weren't _the_ Zeref they were searching for, but Mavis seemed to enjoy how friendly the Zerefs were. The older woman still had hope, and so did Lucy.

As she was writing another paragraph, a knock on her door interrupted her scribbling. She glanced at the door curiously before closing her journal and putting her pen down on the desk. She walked towards the door and opened it, expecting Mavis, but finding Laxus instead.

"Oh, hi there," Lucy blinked. "Did Mavis need me for something?"

"Uh," Laxus said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck before clearing his throat. "No, the old hag went to sleep pretty early."

"Oh, ok—"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted dinner, actually."

Lucy was surprised at the offer, finding that Laxus did, in fact, have his moments. "I'd love to, but I was actually getting a headstart on my story. I just needed to write a few more details, and then I was going to start it off."

She honestly didn't know why she started rambling all of a sudden, but the words just kept spilling out of her mouth.

Laxus didn't seem to mind though. "So, how's your story going?"

"It's… going."

Oh, God, she was so embarrassed. Really, Lucy, what kind of a conversationalist are you right now?

"Huh," Laxus said before he leaned on her doorframe, crossing his arms and letting out a small smirk. "Am I in it?"

Lucy snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'll think about it. Why?"

Laxus seemed to be pleased with her answer. "Show me what you have, then."

"As if," Lucy said, crossing her arms as well.

"Just a page, then."

"_Heck_ no."

"At least swear properly," Laxus scoffed at her. "Besides, I want to see if you're portraying me accurately."

"I _am_. You _are_, okay?" Lucy huffed, a little pout coming out from her.

"What do you mean?" Laxus raised an eyebrow at her but found himself being pushed out by the smaller blonde.

"Yeah, nope," Lucy snorted again as she started closing the door. "_Good night_, Laxus."

He rolled his eyes at her before turning around. "Night, Blondie."

* * *

"Morning," was all Laxus told her as she settled on a chair in front of him, asking one of the hotel staff for a salad and some garlic bread. He, on the other hand, was already eating a full English breakfast.

"Good morning," Lucy greeted back, noticing their missing companion. "Where's Mavis? Is she okay?"

"Old hag wants to sleep in today," Laxus shrugged.

"Oh," Lucy nodded. "Does she need anything?"

"Nah," Laxus shrugged, finishing the food on his plate before glancing at her. "I was gonna go around after eating. You want to come with?"

"Sure!" Lucy said, excited at the prospect of just chilling and walking around so she ate her food at a faster pace, causing Laxus to roll his eyes at her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Blondie."

"I know," Lucy huffed before laughing and drinking her glass of water. "Let's go!"

They had started with the areas near the hotel, so they had seen a small park, a fountain, and a few stores that sold all sorts of things. At the moment, they decided to go a little further and were now aimlessly walking around.

"You gonna keep writing when we come back?" Laxus asked her.

"I mean…" Lucy trailed off, shrugging. "It's what I do."

"Always working, huh?"

"I guess so," Lucy said. "What do you do?"

"I _was_ studying law," Laxus began, "but my grandfather's pretty old, so they're grooming me to take over the family business. He's the one overseeing everything right now."

"That's interesting," Lucy hummed. She hadn't expected that from him. Then again, with the way he confidently carried himself, she knew he had a spine and he would have done well as a lawyer. She told him so, earning her a snort.

"Right," he said as they turned a corner.

"I do have another question," Lucy bit her lip. "I mean, what you're doing for Mavis is really sweet, though I have a feeling you'd rather be spending this time elsewhere. Were you going to do anything with your parents?"

"I'd probably be with Gramps," Laxus shrugged. "My mom's dead and who the fuck knows where my dad is."

"…I'm sorry." She was surprised by this piece of information, and she felt bad about asking that question now. Did she bring up any bad memories by doing so?

Laxus shrugged again. "Doesn't matter. My mom died when I was young, so it's not like I remember. My dad was always fighting with Gramps, so I'm not surprised he left. Good riddance to that fucker. Then, the old hag came by, offered to take me in."

In all honesty, Laxus wasn't sure what prompted him to tell the other blonde his life story, but perhaps it was the novelty of having someone around who _didn't _know about the drama within the Dreyar family. Back in his place, he'd keep hearing random people tell him they were sorry for his loss, always, _always_ mentioning his father, too, and it was annoying. Sure, sticking to Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed — who were all as intimidating as he could get — helped deter people from approaching him, but that didn't mean they never eventually did.

Still, his behavior was weirding him out, so he decided to change the subject. "You got a fiancee right? Isn't he getting a lonely considering you're tagging along with us?"

"Natsu's enjoying himself right now, to be honest," Lucy said, not feeling as hurt as she was before. "He managed to get some investors for his restaurant and he's been dreaming about it for _years_. He's probably still getting investors as we speak, so…"

"He's got a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to things. I remember this one project he had for school. He stayed up for three days preparing for it and finishing it. He even forgot to eat! Luckily, his father and I were there to give him some snacks and food, otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted those three days," Lucy added with a fond chuckle. "That's why when his uncle told him he had some potentially willing investors here, I wasn't surprised when he jumped at the chance. He's always been that way, after all."

Even when he was still courting her — if courting could even describe it because Natsu hadn't grown up around the people Lucy had initially associated with, with all their traditional courting principles — Natsu was just focused on that: her. And when she said yes, he was able to spread his focus more, dividing it between her, his family, school, and friends, but she had always admired his dedication and perseverance towards a task he had to do.

Maybe that was why she didn't mind him going off around Magnolia on his own. It was just a pre-honeymoon after all. When he had his investors and his restaurant running, she was confident this wouldn't happen again.

"What about you?" she asked Laxus curiously. "Did you ever consider anyone else after your… ex-fiancee?"

"Nope," Laxus said bluntly. "It's not as if I liked Yukino, anyways. I just knew her sister, Sorano, and that was apparently enough reason for her to talk to me."

They continued sharing stories with each other as they walked around. Lucy told him about Levy, Gajeel, and Michelle, while he told her about Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow. Lucy found out that he had even dyed Sorano's silver hair pink once — _out of complete curiosity_, Laxus insisted — and that she had taken a month to forgive him for it. Laxus found out that Lucy had a thing for romance novels, which had been her inspiration to try and write her own, and that she had had several drafts for stories but she had never been confident enough to bring them to an editor.

Which was why, when they sat down at an ice cream parlor, Lucy having ordered a strawberry flavored ice cream and Laxus a chocolate flavored one, Laxus had asked, "Why are you even chickening out? I told you to let me read your work. I'll be the judge."

Lucy snorted at this but consented to letting him read a short story she had done, which had been typed on her phone. She was silent as he read through the story, a little nervous at his reaction, and _besides, _Levy had been the only person who had read her works. This was the first time someone else was reading them, though she comforted herself with the fact that once this was over, it wasn't as if she was going to be seeing Laxus again. He would be far, far away in Cedar.

Once he was done, he handed her back her phone. She gazed at him as she pocketed her phone. "Well?"

"Like I said. _Chicken_," Laxus said as he took a bite from his ice cream.

Lucy's jaw dropped as she swiped her ice cream on Laxus' cheek, laughing when she saw that his cheek now had a pink line on it.

Laxus scowled at her, wiping the ice cream away. "To think I was gonna tell you it was pretty good. For a Blondie like you, anyways."

Lucy clicked her tongue with a pout. "Well, _thanks_. And again, you're blonde, too, you know."

"I meant it," Laxus rolled his eyes. "Why are you even surprised?"

"I've ever only let Levy read anything I make. And now, you," Lucy admitted.

Laxus raised an eyebrow at her. "You've never showed your fiancee?"

Lucy shook her head with a chuckle. "Natsu's never been one for reading. Unless the book was a cookbook."

"And, I don't know," Lucy sighed as she finished her ice cream, "I always feel like something's lacking in my writing. Like there's always just that _something _keeping it from being perfect."

Laxus scoffed at this before swiping his own ice cream on her nose, earning a surprised squeal from her. "Look, Blondie, there's nothing to be scared of. Sure, you're a fact checker now but that doesn't mean you can't be a writer. Stop wussing out and go for it. If you get in, then you get in. If you don't, then fucking try again."

She scowled at him but agreed with what he said, getting some tissue to wipe the chocolate from her nose. "I guess you're right."

"I know I am," he huffed as he finished his ice cream and stood up. "C'mon. Let's go back to the hag. She's probably awake."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

After visiting four more Zerefs in the area, and coming back with no success, Lucy found herself sitting down on the grass and gazing at the stars.

"What're you up to?" Laxus asked as he plopped down next to her.

"Just thinking about Mavis and Zeref. It's like the Montagues and Capulets, you know?" Lucy giggled. "It's so romantic."

"No, it's dumb," Laxus scowled. "If I were Romeo, I wouldn't be stupid enough to stand like a dumbass, whispering in a fucking garden. I'd just grab her from the balcony and be done with it."

Lucy seemed amused by his answer before gazing back at the stars, tracing the constellations in her head. "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I think so," Lucy smiled. "I think it's destiny that I'm here right now."

When her brain had caught up to what she had said, along with Laxus' confused face, Lucy's eyes widened by a fraction before she hurriedly added, "With Mavis, I mean. You know, helping her and all." It wouldn't do for him to misinterpret what she had said, after all. Besides, she had been speaking the truth, though. She really did believe fate had brought her to answering Mavis' letter, and going on this exciting journey in hopes of a breakthrough.

"Yeah, with the old hag. I get you," Laxus nodded at her as they both redirected their eyes to the twinkling night sky.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo, there you have it. This fic will end in two more chapters, wow. I'm surprised. But anyways, I'd just like to thank you all so much for the support! See you next time!**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)**

**Liligo: Our Lightning dragon deserves love! c:**

**Tiernank: thank you so much! I hope I'll be able to reach the Laxus / Lucy endgame naturally c:**

**DoomMarine55: It wasn't my intention to make Natsu into a jerk (at least, a jerk on purpose). From what I've seen in the movie, Victor himself wasn't a jerk either, in my opinion. He just seemed to have a one-track mind when it came to his restaurant and his career. I hope this chapter with Natsu's POV addresses your concern. Furthermore, I will write this fanfic the way I planned it out to be. I do want Lucy to eventually fall out of love with Natsu, as you've mentioned, but not because he is a ****_jerk_****. **

**Guest (Jul 21): thank you so much! c:**

**Guest (Jul 24): Omg thank you! That's so nice to hear c:**

**skylorda: SAME I love LaLu so much here's the update!**

**blackwhitewolfgirl17: Thank you so much I'm touched uwu c: Sorry to make you wait for the update!**

**lovedlost: omg thank you! I hope my writing style's still consistent since I haven't updated in so long :c**

**aliciacevbra: oh dw it's only for the sake for the fanfic that there are many Zerefs HAHA **

**Guest (Mar 23): thank you so much! c:**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ngl I still have writer's block and I'm kind of getting busy with my online classes right now but I will try my best to give you the final chapter soon! I have an ending in mind, but I'm not sure if it'll be to your linking (I have 0 experience with ending multi-chapter fics, so this'll be something).**

**Also, um, I haven't rewatched the movie (it's not fresh in my mind) so some scenes may not accurately depict events in the movie, or the proper order, but I hope you'll still like this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

The next few attempts to find Zeref were still unsuccessful, but Lucy and Mavis remained optimistic. That is, until they drove to their next location and Lucy felt the smile on her face die down.

It was a grave.

Mavis slowly walked towards the grave and closed her eyes in silence. She wasn't crying, but at the same time, her face had gone blank. Lucy stood from afar and looked at the woman with sad eyes.

Laxus walked up next to Lucy with crossed arms. His tone was scathing when he spoke, "I had a feeling this would happen."

"We don't even know if it's really him," Lucy said weakly.

"I fucking hope not," Laxus glared at her, "but either way, we're done here, Blondie."

"Wait, but—"

"When does this useless trip stop then? The next grave? Or do you want to check outside of Magnolia? Pretty sure there'll be _more_ dead Zerefs to find," Laxus drawled, "but that's not what you want. You _want_ him to be alive for your shitty story. Hoping for a good ending to it, huh?"

"Stop it, Laxus," Mavis called out to him, not quite moving from her spot, but with the way Laxus' tone had risen, she could quite clearly hear their conversation.

"No, _she_ should stop fucking around with your life," Laxus hissed.

"…It's not about the story," Lucy said with a trembling voice.

Laxus rolled his eyes at her. "You know what they say about blondes being dumb? You're the _perfect example_. She already lost the man _once_ and you want her to go through that again? Tch. I don't expect you to understand, anyways. You don't know _anything_ about losing people."

He was fuming, but she didn't really have it in her to disagree with what he was saying. As much as she wanted to hold on to hope that Zeref was alive so that Mavis could have her happy ending, there was also the possibility that he wasn't among the living anymore. And, in all honesty, Laxus had a point. Was she really going to put Mavis through that, have her see graves, or a Zeref who was bedridden or terribly sick, and have that Zeref be _her_ Zeref?

It was cruel.

"Yeah, I guess so." She simply gave Laxus a small smile, before walking a few feet away from him.

"Tch."

Laxus stomped over towards his great-grandmother, who gave him a glance.

"You know, you're wrong about her," Mavis said. "Her mother died when she was a child. Her father then treated her poorly, though tried his best to make up for it before he died. Pity she never got to experience that treatment from him directly, though."

"…That's fucking different."

"You're right, but it doesn't mean she doesn't know a thing or two about loss," Mavis said before patting his shoulder. "Besides, the date of birth on the grave doesn't match up. It's not him."

* * *

Lucy inhaled deeply, steeling herself before knocking on Mavis' door. When they got back to the hotel, the older woman had immediately headed to her room, leaving Lucy to the mercy of Laxus' stony face before she herself went to her own room.

She wanted to apologize. She should have considered the fact that he could have been dead, to be honest, but she just had so much _hope_ that he would be alive. She still did.

"Come in," Mavis said, a cue for Lucy to twist open the handle of the door and enter the room.

"Hi," Lucy said with a shy smile as she entered.

"Hello, dear," Mavis smiled at her and waved her over to sit next to her on her bed.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright," Lucy said as she sat down next to Mavis, looking at the woman with worried eyes. "I'm really sorry about —"

"No, no, Lucy, I'm perfectly fine," Mavis insisted, holding Lucy's hands in her own. "It wasn't him. The Zeref in that grave was born a year before Zeref."

"Oh…"

"Besides," Mavis smiled, "I quite liked going on this trip with you. You certainly didn't make it boring."

Lucy weakly returned the smile before Mavis stood up and gestured for Lucy to sit on a chair. Though confused, Lucy obeyed and Mavis grabbed a clean hairbrush.

"May I?"

Lucy's eyes widened before she hesitantly nodded. Mavis began brushing her hair, and Lucy tried her best to prevent herself from being outwardly emotional. The memories of her mother brushing her hair were long gone by now, and it hurt that sometimes, she couldn't even remember what it felt like to be hugged by her mother. Yet, here was Mavis, brushing her hair, and for a moment, Lucy closed her eyes and imagined it was her mother brushing her hair.

A knock on Mavis' door interrupted the little moment, and both women looked at the door, which had opened and revealed Laxus awkwardly hovering by.

"Uh—"

"Perfect timing, Laxus. Do apologize to Lucy," Mavis smiled sharply.

"…sorry. I won't— It won't happen again."

"Good job."

They then headed down for dinner, where Mavis raised her glass of red wine towards Lucy's direction, "A toast to you, Lucy. I was a complete stranger, but you still reached out to provide some assistance. Not many would do that, so I really am quite happy you did so. You've given me the confidence and the opportunity to come back here. I'll never forget it."

Lucy shook her head, embarrassed, but raised her own glass to clink against Mavis'. "No, no! In fact, I should be thanking _you_, for letting me tag along and even to write about this."

Mavis smiled before downing her glass of wine.

* * *

Lucy found that she couldn't sleep. She was supposed to turn in early, but found herself restless, so she decided to take a walk around the hotel. That was when she found Laxus lying down on the grass and gazing at the sky.

She walked towards him, and when she earned his attention, she asked, "May I join you?"

He shrugged. "Feel free, Blondie."

So she lay down next to him, thanking herself for deciding to wear a hoodie today because the night was quite cold.

"Blondie, about earlier—"

"It's no big deal, really. I've accepted it," Lucy smiled as she pointed towards the stars. "My mom used to watch the stars with me, and she'd name every constellation to me and tell me their story. She liked telling me that some of them used to be friends of hers, especially Aquarius. She had so many stories about her.

But what she also told me was that when our loved ones die, they become stars in the night sky, watching over us. I'd like to think she was right."

Laxus had nothing to say about that as he too looked at the stars. Was his mother there? No, dwelling on such things wasn't something he liked to do.

"Think Zeref's actually here?"

"Yeah. I just _know_ he's got to be here. We just haven't found them," Lucy said with confidence in her voice.

"And what do you think about me telling the hag to just fucking stop and give up?"

"No," Lucy admitted. "Sometimes, stopping is the option. I just… I just want to have hope. For her. For them."

Laxus looked at the blonde next to him, tilting his head enough that he could see her face right in front of him. She was gorgeous, he knew that, but lately, she seemed to be crossing his mind often. Him hurting her feelings earlier was a little wake-up call to the fact that he considered her as a friend. Maybe even more considering all he wanted to do right now was know what it felt like to kiss her.

He wasn't a stranger to kisses, but it didn't feel like the first time he'd wanted to kiss Yukino. Their first kiss had actually been an accident, with Bickslow somehow colliding with Yukino that made her lips land on Laxus'. The kisses after that were definitely more pleasing, but he had never felt anything like what he was feeling right now.

He didn't know how to explain it.

All he knew was that his head was moving closer to Lucy's. _Vanilla_, he thought as his lips touched hers. _It fucking tastes like vanilla. _It was intoxicating, and he kept going for more. He was surprised when she kissed him back, and their lips moved against each other until Lucy broke away for air.

Laxus blinked, before turning his head back to the sky. He had kissed her. And she kissed him back.

So where did that leave them?

His eyes flickered towards her, and he saw that she was donning a confused expression on her face.

He didn't blame her. She had a fiancee, after all.

_Fuck, she has a fiancee._

Laxus groaned inwardly. How stupid was he to kiss her knowing she was taken? How could he have forgotten?

(He wondered what kind of relationship they had now. He didn't even think of her as a friend. She was always 'the annoying blonde who made him go on this dumb ass trip because of her need to reply to a fucking letter from years ago'.

So what was she to him now? And what was he to her?)

_Fucking dumb_, Laxus huffed. This was the kind of thing he didn't even want to try and wrap his head around. It was stupid and probably just a spur-of-the-moment thing, and tomorrow would be their last day here anyways. Then, he'd happily go back home and go back to his normal routine. Meanwhile, she would be back with her fiancee and probably get married to him sometime in the future if things went well between them.

Beside him, Lucy stood up and gave him a stuttered 'good night' before walking away.

He shrugged before gazing back at the stars.

He could still taste vanilla on his lips.

* * *

Mavis smiled in amusement as she watched Lucy walk away from Laxus. She hadn't meant to be a creep and spy on them, but considering what had happened earlier, she was a little worried that Laxus would say something insensitive again, albeit unconsciously. So she hovered by her window just to see for herself that everything was going well.

Just when she was about to turn around to go back to her reading, she witnessed Laxus kissing Lucy and almost choked on her saliva in surprise. _Still, _she reasoned, _it isn't unexpected._

Her great-grandson was very oblivious towards his own feelings, but she knew that he had at least been attracted to Lucy. He and the girl had even gotten a little closer lately, and she had no doubt that, given time, they would end up liking each other.

Of course, she knew that Lucy was engaged, but something in her gut told her that things wouldn't work out. She wished the gut feeling was wrong, but she had never been wrong about these things before.

Lucy loved her fiancee. That much was clear, but Mavis could tell that they were simply not going to work things out at the moment. Maybe, in the future, they could, but the future was uncertain. She was being biased, she knew, but the future was uncertain, and she hoped that Lucy would find her way to Laxus instead.

(That and Lucy was certainly much better than Laxus' ex-fiancee.)

All they needed was time.

* * *

Lucy stretched her arms as she walked towards the car. Laxus was already there, leaning against the hood of the car. His eyes flashed towards her before looking away.

"Morning," Lucy greeted awkwardly. Admittedly, seeing him reminded her of the kiss they had shared. It was completely awful of her to have done that; she was with _Natsu,_ after all! She shouldn't have done that.

"Morning," was the similarly awkward greeting back.

"It's a sunny day today," Lucy commented to fill the silence.

"Yeah."

Lucy looked towards the doorway of the hotel. She really wished Mavis would come out soon. The silence was making her uncomfortable.

She got her wish granted a minute later when Mavis approached them with a smile. "Good morning, Laxus, Lucy."

"Morning!"

"Morning," Laxus grunted before opening the car door for Lucy, whose seat was the closest to them right now.

Lucy made to go inside before Mavis said, "Actually, Lucy, would you mind sitting in the front? I'd like to stretch my legs."

"Oh, that's completely alright!" Lucy said, helping the woman into the backseat before getting in the passenger's seat herself.

As they drove towards one of the few locations they had yet to check, Mavis watched as the two people in front of her barely spoke. Normally, there would have been mild banter between them, but she supposed the night before would have made things awkward.

Still, she did like to tease. "The stars looked quite lovely from my window last night."

No one replied to her, but she looked on with amusement as Laxus and Lucy seemed to edge slightly away from each other. She tried to conceal her snort.

That was when Mavis noticed a signage that made her eyes widen. "Oh! That leads to the vineyard that makes that really good wine at the hotel. Let's go there, Laxus."

"Alright, then," Laxus said, turning left after the sign and following the road the vineyard.

Mavis observed her surroundings from the window, admiring their beauty when she saw a boy with black hair standing along one of the rows of the vineyard. Her eyes widened.

It was like she was looking at someone from fifty years ago. Realistically, it shouldn't be possible for him to look the same way now, but the man just looked _so identical to him_— "Laxus, stop the car!"

Laxus pressed on the brakes gently, looking at their surroundings in confusion. "What—"

"It's him," was all Mavis said before she got out of the car.

"What the _fuck_?" Laxus said as he stopped the car and got out, Lucy following along behind him. He approached his great-grandmother, who was standing a few feet away from the boy.

"It's Zeref."

"The _boy_?" Laxus looked at her with disbelief before sighing. "That's crazy. C'mon, get back in the car. It's hot out here."

Mavis hesitated, remaining frozen in her position because what _if_?

Lucy seemed to sense her internal dilemma and placed a comforting hand on Mavis' shoulder before stepping forward to approach the boy. "Uh, excuse me, we're looking for a Zeref Dragneel."

"I'm Zeref Dragneel," the boy said.

Laxus' eyes widened slightly as he moved to stand next to Lucy. "Blondie, do you think…?"

"It's possible," Lucy nodded.

That was when an older man with similar features to the boy approached them. "Can we help you?"

"We're looking for a Zeref Dragneel," Laxus said.

The man pointed to himself. "Ah, I'm Zeref Dragneel."

Laxus and Lucy shared a surprised look before an eager expression arose on their faces (though it was much more muted on Laxus').

"Do you have a father named Zeref, too?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"Yeah, he went out riding," the older Zeref said. "What can we do for you, though?"

"I'm Laxus, this is Lucy, and we spent the past few days looking for your father, actually," Laxus explained. "The old— my great-grandmother over them knows him and—"

"Laxus, let's… let's go."

Laxus and Lucy looked at Mavis curiously. Why was she backing out now?

But Mavis heard the conversation quite well. Zeref… had a family, had someone else that he had loved. She didn't blame him; she would be quite the hypocrite if she did, but it still hurt all the same.

Besides, if he was still around, then maybe his wife was, too. She wasn't— she was so, _so_ happy to be this close to seeing him, but she didn't want to be a homewrecker. She honestly should have thought this through. Oh, sure, she wanted to see him again, but now that she was here— she just couldn't.

"Let's go," she pleaded to the two blondes once more.

"Excuse us for a moment, please," Lucy told the two Zerefs and she and Laxus went to Mavis.

"Hag, he's _here_ and is gonna be back any minute," Laxus informed her with a raised eyebrow.

"Let's go before he comes back, then."

"You fucking dragged me out here, you know, and we've been to so many places, too. And we're _finally _fucking here," Laxus said, confused. Why was she so hesitant now when she was so eager to find him in the first place?

Mavis shook her head. "No, no, this is ridiculous. Look, he knew me when I was just a teenager. Times change, people change and—"

And she didn't want to ruin anything by holding on to a sliver of hope that maybe she still had a place in his heart. He had a _family_ and who was she to barge in on his happiness simply because they knew each other some time ago?

"—oh." Her eyes widened as the sound of a horse approaching reached her ears. In front of her was her Zeref.

He was older, but there was still youth in his eyes, and it was— it was just _him._

Mavis stepped forward slowly to approach him, almost as if she was afraid that she was dreaming because how many times had she wondered about this moment? And it was finally, finally happening.

The other Zerefs approached _the_ Zeref, informing him about the situation. They led the horse back to their stables as Zeref approached Mavis.

Lucy smiled, feeling emotional about the whole moment as she watched the two people meet halfway.

"Mavis?"

Mavis' breath hitched. It really was him. A wobbly smile appeared on her face. "Yes."

"It's been so many years," Zeref said as he raised a hand to hold her cheek.

She leaned in to the touch, closing her eyes briefly as memories from all those years ago flashed in front of her eyes. "Yes. Fifty, actually."

Zeref graced her with a smile before he leaned forward to hug her. She eagerly returned the hug, resting her forehead on her shoulder.

Yes, this was what she had been looking — _longing_ — for.

* * *

Lucy found herself having lunch with the Dragneel family. Zeref sat at the head of the long table, Mavis to his left and Lucy to his right. Laxus sat next to Mavis while Zeref the second, Zeref's son, was next to Lucy, and was currently telling the blonde how to pronounce the name of one of the local delicacies that they had on their table.

That was when Zeref clinked his spoon on his wine glass gently, calling the attention of everyone on the table. Zeref stood up and smiled at Mavis. "I'm not very good at expressing myself, but when I saw Mavis again, it felt like I was a teenager again."

This earned 'aww's from the large Dragneel family, and Lucy thought it was quite nice that they actually accepted Mavis, and the fact that Zeref still clearly liked Mavis.

"I'm happy to be able to introduce you to Mavis, her great-grandson, Laxus, and their lovely friend, Lucy." Zeref continued before looking at Mavis, "Mavis, you lost Yury. And I lost Mila. But it seems we were fated to meet once more."

That earned a round of cheers from the Dragneels.

* * *

Lucy smiled from her seat. The Dragneels owned a lot of land, and it was all so picturesque. The breeze was inviting and her seat was rather comfortable, her place a perfect position for a garden party.

From afar, she could see Mavis and Zeref talking, holding each others' hands.

That was when Laxus approached, sitting on the bench in front of her. "Odd how we all thought it was going to be over then he comes in on a horse. Unbelievable, but we all saw it. It's good for your story."

"I guess so," Lucy smiled weakly before gazing at the grass in front of her. Why was she feeling so sad all of a sudden? Was it because the adventure was over?

A few feet away from them, Lucy could see Mavis and Zeref, smiling and laughing, and just being so, _so_ happy with each other. They just felt so alive and unbothered by anything, and— when was the last time she had been like that with Natsu?

"Look, Blondie," Laxus sighed, leaning forward. "I'm sorry. I never should've kissed you. It was wrong, and it was a dick move. You're engaged and…"

He trailed off, conflicting emotions in his eyes.

She understood. She was sure her own eyes reflected the same things, after all. She was wrong to kiss him back when she was with Natsu. It was wrong. It was wrong. It was wrong. "It's time for me to go. Thanks for everything, Laxus."

She hesitated before pulling him into a hug. "Bye."

With that, she walked over to Mavis and Zeref. "Hi. Sorry to disturb you, but it's probably best if I head back now. To Natsu. I— yeah."

Mavis' mouth formed an 'o' in surprise. "Oh, yes, of course! Where's Laxus? We could give you a ride right now."

"What? No!" Lucy shook her head. "Mavis, I can't do that to you when you just got here."

Zeref looked between the women before saying, "I can have my son drive you. Just a moment."

"Thank you," Lucy smiled at him before looking at Mavis. "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm quite happy, too," Mavis smiled before giving Lucy a knowing look. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, no! It's just…" Lucy trailed off before laughing awkwardly.

Mavis simply gave her a hug. The problem wasn't hers to fix, after all. "Thank you so, so much for finding the letter. For replying, for going along with us, for helping me find him. For everything. You don't know how grateful I am, Lucy."

Lucy just hugged back, wondering why she felt like crying right now. That was when Zeref the second pulled over with their car, with Zeref placing her bags inside.

"Thank you for this," Lucy told the older man, who patted her shoulder.

"You're always welcome here," he told her.

She smiled at him and hopped into the passenger seat. "Thank you so much, Zeref."

"Have a safe trip, Lucy," Zeref told her.

* * *

Natsu grinned as he entered the room and found Lucy by the balcony. She hadn't heard him arrive, so he made sure to be sneaky with his actions.

True to his word, he cancelled the rest of his meetings and spent the rest of his time preparing a surprise for her. He bought her chocolates and some books, along with her favorite flowers. It looked like he was just in time.

He tiptoed over to her and leaned over her shoulder, noting that she was reading a book that he hadn't purchased. _Good_. "Boo."

Lucy squealed in surprise before turning around and smiling when she saw him. "Natsu!"

"Hey, Luce! I missed you!" Natsu said as he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

She smiled at the sight, inhaling the flowers' scent as he proceeded to hug her.

"Sorry I couldn't keep in touch a lot. It got a little busy, but then—" Natsu rambled before his cellphone rang. He took a look at who he was calling before laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry, one second. Hello?"

Natsu stepped aside to take his call as Lucy simply looked at him with fond exasperation. When he was out of her line of sight, she frowned and looked at the sky.

It just didn't feel the same anymore.

* * *

"Laxus, you're my great-grandson. My _only_ great-grandson," Mavis told him as he continued watching the car until it disappeared over the hill, "and that's why I'm telling you you're dumb."

"Fuck you," was the reply, but there was no heat in it.

Mavis snorted before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Laxus, when will you ever meet a girl like Lucy again?"

"Fuck you mean?" Laxus looked at her with knitted eyebrows.

Mavis rolled her eyes before giving him a soft smile. "Brat, don't wait fifty years like I did."

Laxus averted his eyes to the ground before steeling himself and nodding. Mavis handed him the car keys and ushered him to leave quickly.

He would find her, he told himself as he put the keys in the ignition and started the car, speeding down the road. Honestly, he didn't know what he could tell her once he got to the place where she was staying (she had mentioned the address before, so it was easy to find it through the map in his phone). What would he even say?

That he liked her?

He fucking _didn't_, but why was he hurrying over to catch up to her, anyways?

He scowled as he shifted gears and pressed down on the pedal.

The girl was _taken_, engaged. He shouldn't even — this wasn't even right — what was he even doing — but he had to face the fact that he just might actually _like_ her.

He managed to make it to the building she was staying in in a little under an hour, which wasn't bad considering he hadn't even broken the imposed speed limits. He took a deep breath, deciding to just wing it. He'd probably know what to say when he saw her.

He stepped out of the car and glanced at the building. She was at one of the top floors—

He was right.

There she was, leaning on a balcony, a book in her hands. The sight was so familiar, and the breeze made her yellow locks dance with the wind.

(Maybe he did like her.)

He made to move towards the building door, to race up the stairs and knock on her door and just go with the flow after once she let him in, but a salmon-haired man had come up behind Lucy and surprised her with a bouquet of flowers.

Lucy seemed to smile as she closed her book and hugged the man.

The fiancee.

_Her _fiancee.

Laxus scowled. What was he even thinking? Why did he even let the old hag give him the idea, the small hope that maybe he could work something out with the _clearly taken_ girl. It was so, _so fucking wrong_.

He sighed, turning back to the car.

Why did he even think something could have been done?

Feelings were fucking stupid.

* * *

**A/N: That's all for now. Really excited to get my ideas out for the final chapter hehe. Thank you all so much for sticking around til this chapter, and I hope to see you one last time in the next!**

**Also, I have never… written a kiss scene… before… so I hope that okay HAHA**

**(Oh and to those who read my BNHA fanfic, it'll be updated a few days after this one!) **

**Also just a note, I'm writing under the assumption that 'Dragneel' is a relatively common name, so Lucy's not about to go wondering if Zeref's related to Natsu. For this fanfic's purposes, no they are not related ^.^**

**And as for the whole Laxus-Lucy romance, I hope I've made it sound realistic? Like, I really doubt Laxus would just fall in love with her in just a few days, but being attracted to her and having a happy crush on her? I can see that happening.**

**So I'll be back to my online classes now and I'll really try my best to release the final chapter next month. **

**See you next update!**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)**

aliciacevbra: YES HELLO HAHA college truly is tiring zz but I do take the time to take a break to recharge hehe thank you for liking this story and I hope this chapter was to your liking! c:

tory72: Thank you for liking this story! I really hope I've portrayed Laxus properly :'c and I hope you like this chapter, too!

DoomMarine55: Well, for the purpose of this fanfic, Natsu will probably seem to be the bad guy. Because I simply inserted Fairy Tail characters into the movie. I do want to try making her and Natsu's break up realistic so you can try to see where I go in the next chapter or you can always stop reading if you don't like what you're seeing. I don't mind! c:

Liligo: yes HAHA i've had a similar situation before too lol

Summer Nickels: thank you! that's good to hear c: i hope you like this one!

rachjemi: Hi! I'm going to do my best to finish this asap, even though my updates have been quite slow, so thank you for sticking with me regardless! I'm happy you like how I've playing with the plot and I hope you like this chapter too c:


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